Love of the Thunder Gods
by MindForgedMan
Summary: Ozai wanted an heir who embodied his ideals of power & greatness, a worthy successor. Naruto lost hope that he could ever care for anything again. Azula would exceed their expectations, leading the world to a new epoch. Woe betide any who would stand in her way, be they the the meekest bender or the greatest Avatar. [May up rating to "M" later for lemons]
1. Chapter 1: Sleep No More

The the throne room was, as custom, littered with the ever-present flames of its current, rightful occupant. Seated upon his throne in regal garb, the man looked down at his kneeling daughter. He could only confess to having loved, truly loved, two people in all his life for any significant stretch of time. His mother died when he was too young to recall her, while his father had been little more than a decaying obstacle to his ambition. One of his loves had betrayed him for The Disappointment as the man preferred to think of his so-called son.

Now all that remained was his daughter, loyal and without a blemish on her record. Talent without peer, cunning with few equals, an ambition to match his own, merciless to the meek.

It was in his quieter moments that he felt his nation, his burgeoning empire, had a prosperous future ahead of it. Once he deigned to pass on his title to her. Things must occur in their proper time. He eliminated his father for the stagnation that had infected his rule in old age, running counter to the ever growing nature of their element. But while his own reign might not be everlasting, it would be without equal in its splendor. His daughter would do well when the time came, a close second to him.

That's the best an extraordinary father such as himself could hope for in his offspring. And that was why The Disappointment was so irksome.

But that was for the time to come, there were pressing, urgent matters that needed attending in the present. Even he, the Fire Lord, could not be everywhere at once.

"Iroh is a traitor, and your brother Zuko is a failure. I have a task for you, Azula."

The smile she bore to him was magnificent, a promise to accomplish her task with ruthless efficiency and precision.

* * *

"Oh sure Azula, eliminate the most powerful bender on the planet. He's a child, as you know. Pay no heed to his ability to merge with quasi-omnipotent spirits to repel an entire Fire Nation invasion. Eliminate him as easily as you would some Earthbending thug!"

Azula was having a 'bitch fit' as Ty Lee would term it. And for the task, the fucking annoying task, her father had given her, none could blame her. Traveling across the country trying to capture or eliminate the Avatar was proving to be an enormous pain in the ass. Who'd have guessed? When it wasn't the Avatar's group being irritants it was her worthless brother and fool of for an uncle.

Sighing, Mai said, "Will you give it a rest already? You don't see us complaining and we didn't even need to be here."

Ty Lee snickered and said, "Mai, you complain any hour that Azula doesn't."

"The difference is I'm doing a her a favor, I have the right to complain about getting sweaty and dirty every other day, and not even the fun kind."

The three girls had decided to enter the tiny section of the Earth Kingdom their nation had managed to colonize. It had the benefit of both allowing them to rest and restock on supplies, as well as being only a day's journey from their new destination.

Azula's travels across the world, and interactions with the Avatar in particular, had made it clear that things could not go on as they were. The people of the world were worse off than she had realized. Not even just the century-long war. In different ways, even the Fire Nation was the same, it had become rotten. Everyone all looked the Avatar as the one upon whom all things rested. For the Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom, it was for the assumed salvation the so-called Bridge Between Worlds would provide. For her homeland, it was fear for the single greatest threat to their dominion over all.

"Absurd," she muttered to herself, letting Ty Lee and Mai's back and forth fade from her attention. Yes, the Avatar was formidable and had to be accounted for, his defeat of their invasion at the north pole drove that home. No, the issue was the the tendency to let everything ride on a single gambit, to make problems to quickly swell into disasters. Zhao's invasion had been disastrous in terms of lives lost a sind resources wasted. Destroying the Moon spirit to remove Waterbending had been an idiotic plan given how chaotic the tidal effects would have been had it not been reversed. Not to mention how destructive it would have been to crops and creatures who needed the presence of the Moon as well.

No, they should have gathered their forces at strategic locations and waited for the Avatar to leave for the Earth Kingdom before striking. They'd have claimed the Water Tribe in a matter of days. Sheer numbers, technological superiority and rationality would have scored them a decisive victory.

But the addition of a single important variable - the Avatar - had driven everyone to rash decision-making. As much as her father laid the blame on Zhao's shortsightedness, Azula knew he greenlit the invasion. Zhao's historic blunder came as a result of her father's actions.

It was strange, really, as her uncle Iroh was the true threat. He was still beloved in the homeland, he had contacts everywhere - likely in foreign territory, Azula suspected - and he was a fully-realized master firebender with true military experience that was invaluable to their enemies should he aid them. But no one was even attempting to remove that threat, her father was willing to let him remain in self-exile, unaccounted for in spite of the dangers.

As the three reached the military base of the midsized colonial city, Azula knew them day ahead would, if their information proved truthful as the spirit said, be the turning point in history.

There had been a learned man at a seedy bar who spoke of an incredible library containing invaluable knowledge somewhere out in the Si Wong Desert. They hadn't convinced the man to help them find it, however Azula found willing Sandbenders who managed to locate it. Money is a universal language, just like violence. She couldn't recall how badly she injured the ones that tried to double cross her when she exited the buried library.

Azula unfurled the scroll from the spirit's library, a translation commissioned of an ancient scroll at some point in the past. A strangely helpful fox led her to it, as despite being 'all-knowing', the spirit owl had no discernable organizational system in place. The scroll read,

"The Thunder God, bearing the knowledge of an all-powerful art lost to man, sleeps in the catacombs beneath Xùn beyond the Wall of pure Earth. The spirits dictate only the spark of life can make him wake."

Azula smiled, knowing she could supply that spark, and quietly went to sleep with dreams of the changes to come.

"Are we there yet?" Azula asked their guide as they descended deeper and deeper into the subterranean network beneath Xùn City.

The earthbender they'd hired after disguising themselves as tourists from nearby colonized cities, smiled and said, "Hah, worry not. I know you're eager to see Xùn's Wall of the Forlorn, but it's just a few minutes out. I'm sure you can contain your excitement and fear a little longer. No harm can come to you with me present." He emphasized this with a kiss of his bicep and a completely unnecessary display of his Earthbending 'prowess'.

"Not sure I can contain my urge to shank this guy much longer," muttered Mai. She had a thing for kicking the ass of the "Muscle-y Overconfident Earthbender" type. Ty Lee seemed completely uncaring about it, content with walking on her hands as they descended a slight slope and curved around yet another seemingly pointless curved passage. But as they rounded the bend a startling obstacle came into view.

A massive metal wall stood within the cavern they walked into. It was hard to explain how big it was. Much larger than the immense walls protecting Ba Sing Se. They stretched into the darkness, the light of their torches not reaching the top.

"And hear it is, little ladies. The Wall of the Forlorn. Don't ask me why it's called that, all anyone knows is its been here longer than anyone knows," the man said.

"Does anyone know how to get passed it?" Azula asked innocently, using her good looks to her advantage. "Surely a bender as powerful and well connected as you might know a weak point, or even a rumor of how to open it?"

Blushing but still trying to be suave, the earthbender said, "Wellll, there is is a hole in the wall that looks like something might go inside it. But there's a hole I'd much rather talk about getting inside of-"

With his use at an end along with Azula's patience, she channeled a bit of lightning into his body, leaving him a twitching heap on the cold, stone ground.

"Fucking finally," Mai said in exasperation. "If you hadn't done it I would have. This guy is such a horn dog."

Pouting, Ty Lee said, "Aww, but I wanted to block his Chi. I need to keep in shape."

Ignoring them, Azula inspected the wall. Now able to use her firebending in in the open, released several orbs of azure fire into the air to see the metal wall more clearly. It was decorated with innumerable characters that resembled those in the modern language. Though their meaning was not clear the her, their positioning was of clear importance. At the center of the wall was what appeared to be the characters for Lightning. It was surrounded by a circle of tiny characters she could not make out. From the circle extended several more lines of characters which spread outwards to the edges of the wall.

But her attention fell upon the barely visible opening at the center of the character for lightning. The hole the bender mentioned seemed unremarkable, but she recalled the Fire Temple often had security measures for important rooms. So she did what the passage in the scroll dictated.

Assuming the proper stance, Azula brought her arms through the correct paces, swirling about her arms as she channeled her Chi appropriately. She could feel the awesome power of lightning coursing through her, only to be fired at the hole in the metal wall with as much as she could expel at once.

The effect was instantaneous. As the huge bolt of lightning hit, the wall lit up with a blinding flash. The characters lining the surface glowed with the light of the electricity Azula watched it awe as the characters began to swirl across its surface like a mystical whirlpool, seeping toward the center of the wall by some unknown force. As quick as it started, the movement stopped.

"...All that for a light show?" Mai commented.

Before Azula could angrily respond, there was a slight tremor as the metal wall began lifting up, allowing them to finally see inside.

Another, dimmer glow came into sight. It was a man seated in a meditative position. Well, nearly a man. He looked about the same age as the seventeen-year old Azula, maybe a little older. But aside from the glowing blue eyes, what stood out most was his spiky golden hair. Azula had never seen such hair color in all the world. His looks were pleasing and his bare chest showed his fitness, though the whisker like birthmarks gave off a somewhat animalistic vibe. One Azula found attractive.

As the man remained motionless, an intense pressure filled the cavern, as if the air had suddenly become oppressive and breathing was more labored. Azula walked up to him while her friends had remained where they were, whether entranced or afraid she didn't know. The closer she got, the greater the intensity became; it was clear the power the scroll mentioned was more than legend if she could already pick it up when he was doing nothing. Azula thumped the boy in the forehead and said, "You've slept long enough, oh 'divine' one. Now teach me to use the fearsome powers you're rumored to possess so that I might change this world."

His eyes stopped glowing, letting Azula see the bright blues that they were. He shook his head and looked at her with confusion. His attention waned for a moment as his look became vacant, before he suddenly snapped back into focus.

"What makes you think you can demand this from me? Why do you deserve power?"

With a confident look, she answered, "Because it's my duty as the princess of the Fire Nation to use any power I can win our war and put the world back in order. The ancient texts refer to you as a deity. And while I have my doubts about that, your looks suggest could at the very least be my… call boy."

The blonde man simply looked at her with a disinterested look which was soon replaced with one of indifference that did little to mask the despair he evidently felt. His gaze fell upon the ground. Azula felt it prudent to continue, saying, "You seek meaning, don't you?"

The man looked up at her again with a furrowed brow, so she elaborated. "I can give you purpose. It's plain as day you lost something important so you'd rather be left in here to waste away like filth. I can return the spark you lost along the way, and provide direction and goals for you to aim for. But the decision is yours."

She walked away from him, convinced by his surprised look that he would follow behind her out of interest if nothing else. The additional steps she heard following her and her friends caused yet another smile, an expression she knew would be more common on her face going forward.

* * *

(A/N): So I felt like doing a crossover with Naruto and ATLA. And Azula is awesome so I knew who I wanted to focus on. This basically starts sometime in season 2, before the Gaang enters Si Wong Desert. The first few chapters are already finished, but after chapter 2 I will release them as I get future chapters done. Chapter 2 will be up in a few days, depending on how this story is received. Hopefully you enjoy this (let me know any issues you have), please Favorite and Review!

Cover art by **Amenoosa** over on Deviant Art. Please check out their work!


	2. Chapter 2: A God & His Spirit

The Fourth Shinobi World War had raged on for a year before its climax against Madara. Despite it all, the man had ensnared the entire planet in the endless bliss of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Team Seven had avoided the illusion and fought Madara endlessly. The fight went on for days, shattering the very continent itself, severing huge portions of it due to the scale of the attacks from Madara, Naruto and Sasuke in particular. Nature itself seemed to shake at the might they displayed.

Kakashi had been killed after two days, unsurprisingly. As much of a resourceful genius though he was, there was only so much Naruto could do to bolster his stamina with shared chakra. The remaining three members fought on and finally managed to get a serious opening on Madara, allowing Naruto to play chakra tug-of-war when the Uchiha temporarily lost control of the beasts he'd stolen. Using the portions of their chakra he already had in him, Naruto yanked them out and pulled them into his seal. As he died, Madara tried to persuade them not to end the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Ignoring him as he died moments later, Sasuke tried to kill Naruto while he wasn't paying attention, making sure Madara was actually dead. Naruto didn't notice until the body of the woman he loved slumped against his back, murmuring that she really did love him with her last breath, succumbing to the Chidori-made hole in her chest.

In a fit of blind rage, Naruto hit Sasuke with an enormous _Rasenshuriken_ , which tore through even the Perfect Susanoo his former friend tried to erect. The explosion destroyed the Uchiha's chakra network, leaving him feeble, decaying and dying not far from Madara's corpse. The Uchiha clan had now truly gone extinct.

He managed to undo the worldwide genjutsu with the power of all nine Tailed Beasts within him, now bearing the same power Madara had. Had that worked without error, Naruto thought he might have found something to heal the shattered remains of his heart. But it all went to shit.

Oh the technique ended, people were released from their endless dream. But soon afterwards they began to keel over, evidently dying from what Naruto could sense. The God Tree's invasion of their chakra network was not intended to be removed, not so soon after it had been applied. Those who had trained to use their chakra - ninja, namely - all died within days as their bodies went into shock and began producing less and less chakra until they died. In spite of his power, even Tsunade died after a few weeks. She speculated that the sudden end to the technique acted similarly to removing a Tailed Beast. Death was a guarantee.

Some scattered remnants of the civilian populace survived, though many seemed to have been driven mad at having been snatched from a dream world constructed to be their ideal reality. They were crushed at having it taken from them, huge numbers of them refusing to believe it had all been an illusion. Many ended their lives to try and escape the illusion they believed reality to be in hopes of returning to that perfect world, others just lost the will to go on.

Naruto couldn't watch it. He wanted to end his life but it would have been cruel to the Tailed Beasts, who placed their faith in him to guide them as the Sage wished. He wasn't even sure he could die now, Madara suggested the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki was immortal unless they removed the demons sealed within them. However, they couldn't blame him for losing hope. Everything Naruto had believed in, everyone he had loved and cared for, were gone like the wind. Nothing and no one worth living for anymore. In his naivete, he had boldly declared to Nagato that he could withstand what was to come.

 _"Dying like trash, never ending hatred and pain that never heals. That is war, Naruto. This is what you must face in time…"_

And that was what broke him. Nagato's prediction proved truer than even his blessed eyes could have foreseen. The ship of Naruto's foolish ideals were crashed against the merciless cliffs of an unforgiving reality.

It was months later that Naruto came into contact with the Moon Spirit, Tui, the being who helped the Sage of the Six Paths seal the Ten-Tails into the then-new Moon when he was ready to join his deceased wife. Ninja almost never dealt with spirits, preferring to leave them to the priestesses and monks. They had their own weirdness to handle and couldn't be bothered with helping wayward spirits or mollifying those who became angered. This one had been woken from its slumber when Madara cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi using the Moon as a medium for the illusion, though it needed to rest after having been used to hold the moon seal for the previous thousand years.

The Moon Spirit offered him a kind of solution once it understood the state of things. Naruto might not be able to die, but he could enter a sort of hibernation until the world needed him again, if it ever did. It was as close to an afterlife as he could get and the Tailed Beasts didn't mind it either, as they would be put under along with him. Naruto couldn't agree fast enough. Experiencing the occasional dream while the world passed him by didn't bother him, there was nothing and no one out there for him.

He found a huge deposit of iron and used the Four-Tails's Lava Release and his chakra arms to shape the mass of metal into a cubical shape. Part of the cube was detached and made into a door that would rise upwards with the application of a specified kind of chakra. Naruto used the incredible strength granted by Sage Mode to lift the cube of iron and walked the continent until he found a place himself in stasis. He knew his battle with Madara had split the continent into separate chunks, but he still found himself surprised by where everything was.

The people seemed to be borderline feral, in extreme denial and confusion or else making mad grabs for power as normal society had broken down. Those that saw him traveling while holding up the enormous metal construct with his bare hands were in awe. Some saw him as a god - which Naruto supposed he technically was now - and wished to worship him. The fact that a translucent fish-shaped spirit was accompanying him solidified that image. It only got worse when a thunderstorm occurred one day, forcing Naruto to use a large scale Lightning Release jutsu to protect his 'followers' from harm as his cargo became the target for numerous lightning strikes, leading to prayers to the 'Thunder God'. Naruto ignored them until he could get away, thanking any deity who'd listen that he was the only one who could walk on water now.

But after a few weeks he found a place where, had life been wildly different, he might have grown up with his family. The Land of Whirlpools, off a ways into the ocean, had been untouched by the war as it had been destroyed and abandoned when his mother was a child. The ruins of his people's land, destroyed before he was even born, didn't help his somber attitude. He'd lost so much now that he didn't want to think about what else he never had a chance at.

With an Earth Release technique of a huge scale, Naruto constructed a deep network of tunnels and criss crossing paths beneath him. It would decrease people's interest at going down there for awhile, he hoped. Once completed, he opened a large hole to the bottom of his temporary tomb and dropped the iron cube into it, following behind it once he heard it hit bottom.

Once down there, the Moon Spirit, who had been mostly quiet company for going on three weeks as they traveled, finally spoke. "Are you certain this is what you wish to do? The world needs its Sage more than ever. Madness has taken root in the land, Naruto. You can guide them as your predecessor did."

He shook his head. "Even if I wanted to, I'm not in the right mind to help anyone." While he was talking, Tui and Naruto were inscribing a Fuinjutsu onto the door of the cube that would act similarly to the seal placed to keep the Demonic Statue sealed in the Moon that kept Tui in stasis, fueling the seal until Madara had undone it. With the application of the right kind of chakra, the door would open. Of course, everyone with any knowledge of how to use their chakra had died when he'd undone Madara's Genjutsu and those that remained scarcely did more than hunt and forage to survive in small groups. However, Naruto saw that as a benefit. Even if he was awakened eventually, surely he'd get at least a century of time away from it all. Maybe eventually the world would right itself and he could fade from history.

"Tui, you can select the element that opens the door. Just place the element's character here," he gestured at the empty circle in the middle of the seal array on the door. "Once the door is fed enough elemental chakra of the one you select, my stasis will end."

As Naruto ended his Sage Mode and sat in a meditative position within the cube, Tui spoke to him one last time. "I know reality seems cruel and bleak now, Naruto, but when the opportunity presents itself you must be willing to grab the happiness you deserve," the spirit said. "Eventually, someone will appear that can give you the spark you've lost, but you must give it a chance."

"What's this, a prophecy?" he asked with a snort.

"Nothing so concrete," the spirit replied. "But my, ah, spiritual intuition is telling me this isn't the end of your tale. You've the capacity to change so much for so many, you just require the right influence. In spite of all the ill, never forget the Light you hold inside as well."

Rather than answer and risk replying with snark, Naruto took a deep breath and nodded for Tui to close him in. As the light faded, Naruto couldn't squash the hope that it would never open again…

* * *

Naruto's consciousness slowly came back to him after something hit his forehead. His stasis-induced trance faded, and he saw a beautiful girl saying something to him, but it was incomprehensible. He didn't recognize the language she spoke. However, his mind was suddenly pulled into the seal containing the Nine demons sealed within him.

They were arranged in a circle around Naruto, and while they were all beginning to stir, only the Nine-Tailed Fox had fully awoken. Naruto said, "Hey guys. Looks like we're finally awake, but I don't understand anything that girl is saying. This bites."

Kurama snorted and said, "She's demanding you train her. Uppity, but I admire that sort of fire - as long as it isn't directed at me."

"Wait, how do you speak her language?" he asked.

"Demons are blessed - cursed, I'd say - to understand any mortal language," the Fox demon said. He raised his fist to Naruto and said, "Just bump fists, I'll transmit the knowledge to you, but then you need to scram so I can make sure these guys don't forget where they are and flip out. I think we've been out a lot longer than you expected."

Naruto nodded and touched his fist the Kurama's, feeling the knowledge of the language enter his mind before he left the seal. Looking up at the girl, he asked her why he should do as she wished. She all but propositioned him initially, which he wouldn't turn down, but that was hardly going to make him forget the things he had been through.

"You seek meaning, don't you?" she asked insightfully. I can give you purpose. It's plain as day you lost something important so you'd rather be left in here to waste away like filth. I can return the spark you lost along the way, and provide direction and goals for you to aim for. But the decision is yours."

Naruto couldn't help but look at her with his mouth agape. Shinobi training included the ability to master one's emotions to a degree, at least to mask what their true feelings were. He'd rarely had someone so quickly and easily see right through him. Certainly not after having just met. Intrigued, Naruto followed her out the cavern he was in, ignoring the twitching body of some muscle-bound guy, as a new and unexpected chapter of his life began.

* * *

The girl had asked Naruto to prove he could create lightning. Annoyingly, that 'Thunder God' business hadn't died out immediately like he'd hoped. The girl laughed briefly when Naruto asked her why she didn't just have someone teach her the other elements. He wasn't keen on taking on a student or on anything else, really.

"Everyone knows only the Avatar can use multiple elements, much less all of them," she said matter-of-factly. A ball of blue fire appeared in her left hand while a current of lightning dancing around her right, reminding him of Chidori. "After mastering my Chi I could use two types of Firebending, but surely you must have some other abilities to teach. The scroll referred to you as a Thunder God with knowledge of powers lost to mankind. I assume you can do more than the single element you were born with."

Naruto massaged the sides of his heads, confused by the conflicting terminology and odd statements. After a moment he said, "That doesn't make any sense. Using more than one element isn't uncommon. Using all five standard elements is rare but not impossible. You just have to do all the training needed for them. You used lightning and fire, and those are different elements."

The smile was wiped from the girl's face, as she was now looking at him as if trying to determine if he was telling the truth. "Prove it."

Naruto weaved through hand signs, confusing the girls at what he was doing. He then slammed his palm onto the ground.

" _Earth Release: Mobile Core_!" A patch of earth behind them began rising up in the shape of a rectangular prism, pushing through the ceiling with ease. Two of the girls - the depressed looking one and the bubbly, happy-go-lucky one - looked on in shock. The blue-fire girl however looked at him with great interest, walking up to his side.

"As the Fire Nation's princess, Azula, I formally request your tutelage," she said seriously. The information of her homeland surprised Naruto. "I didn't catch your name, Mr…?"

"Naruto Uzumaki… I was once employed by the Land of Fire. I was just short of being its top general before… everything happened," he trailed off, before continuing, "What are the odds its royal family would be the one to wake me?"

Azula smirked at his reply. "That technically makes me your leader, then. Still, the niceties must be observed, and I didn't hear you answer my request." She wrinkled her nose a bit, leading to Naruto concluding she wasn't used to not being given her way upon request. "In exchange for my help resolving your personal turmoil, will you, er, take me under your wing?"

Naruto nodded his head, if a bit in resignation. "Fine, not like I have anything better to do. But I need to find out what has gone on since I've been out. I don't even know how long I was down there."

"How will you find out?" Azula asked. "I got lucky someone had translated a scroll that mentioned your location."

"The Moon Spirit, Tui," Naruto said.

"...Are you an Avatar?" Azula asked, seeming to reach a conclusion of her own. "Firebending and Earthbending… I thought there could only be one at a time."

"I have no idea what those words mean," Naruto admitted. "So I'll go with a 'no'. Not a 'firebender' and whatever. The Moon Spirit helped me in putting myself in stasis until I would actually be of help to the world after mine had been wrecked."

"But how can you channel your Chi to control different elements?"

"I'll assume you mean Chakra," Naruto said in bewilderment. "I use Ninjutsu to change the properties of my chakra - the energy flowing through my body - to let me make different effects happen depending on how I alter the chakra. Hand signs are the easiest way to change it, but with enough experience you don't need them."

"Fascinating," she said. Looking at the now cleared square shaped hole that went all the way up to the surface, Azula asked, "Do you think you could get us out of here quickly? You're likely to bring a lot of attention to us, especially with that… whatever it is you say you do."

Naruto performed a cross sign and two more copies of himself appeared, equally as shirtless as the original, leaving all three girls with equally funny expressions of shock. "Me, myself and I can get you three out of this hole in the ground," the original Naruto said as the Narutos put a hand on both of the shoulders of the girls whose names he didn't know.

"What… How..." Azula sputtered.

"The Shadow Clone technique, solid copies of myself with all my abilities. Useful, right?" he said with a slight smile. Looking up the exit he'd made, Naruto pulled a three-pronged kunai out of the pouch tied to his leg and threw it up hard. After it looked as if it made it to the surface hundreds of feet up, Naruto and his clones used the _Flying Thunder God_ technique to instantly teleport to the kunai now above ground. He took a deep breath of fresh air for the first time in he literally did not know how long.

As he surveyed the area around him, he saw a small city in the distance. "The ruins of the Hidden Whirlpool village should have been there," he muttered, seeing the proof that quite a bit of time had passed. Even the nature around him was noticeable different. The shapes of the surrounding cliffs were different than when he'd gone in, and there was no sign of the land that had been owned by his mother's clan.

"Is this guy going to explain what the hell just happened, Azula?" said the moody girl.

"Hold on, let me get my bearings, Mai," Azula said. Naruto couldn't blame her for feeling disoriented. Teleportation caused nausea when one was starting out.

Naruto felt someone jump on his back. He turned his head and saw the energetic girl with the long braid looking at him with glittering eyes.

"Do it again! Again, again, again!" she said.

"Ty Lee, please let go of our… guest," Azula said firmly. The girl climbed off of him reluctantly, while Azula walked in front of him.

"Mai is right though. How are you doing these things? It's not like any bending I've heard of."

"It's ninjutsu," Naruto said. They didn't understand the term. "It's the same as when you made that fire and lightning, I felt you change your chakra's nature to produce them."

Ty Lee seemed confused by his words, saying, "Wait, aren't your chakras just the seven points in the body where you Chi is most concentrated?"

"Chi?" Naruto said, wondering if it was actually different than chakra.

"The energy that flows through your body. It's how benders can manipulate an element," she answered. "Supposedly opening all seven points where Chi gathers will improve a bender's abilities."

Naruto scratched his head and said, "In my time we just called that energy chakra, the mixture of one's spiritual energy and the body's physical energy. The eight points in the body you mentioned are the Eight Inner Gates, they regulate the flow so you don't use too much at once and die."

Azula looked skeptical, saying, "All the spiritual experts say there are seven Chakras, or Gates if you wish, and that opening them is the key to enlightenment or some such."

"Enough with the lecture shit, I don't want to feel like I'm in school again," Mai said in boredom. While Naruto could agree to an extent, he needed to get to the bottom of this.

"Azula, let me see your hand," Naruto said. While she raised an eyebrow, she did as he asked. "This will probably feel weird for a moment, but just trust me. This should let me figure out what's going on. But don't let the power go to your head."

Naruto began to pour some of his chakra into Azula's chakra network. As he did so, it would let him get a rough idea of what was different about the people of this time period. Talk of only seven gates, of everyone besides this Avatar character being limited to one nature transformation… It just didn't make sense, chakra was not so limited. Even if his time's knowledge of chakra had been lost, it must have been rediscovered if this bending crap was around. As his chakra progressed through Azula's body, Naruto felt it passing through her Gates, traveling down her chakra coils in the same way it did for a normal person. But he noticed something strange.

"There are blockages," Naruto said.

"What are talking about?" Azula asked, trying to mask her husky voice, not having expected the elation she'd receive when she felt the man's energy entering her. She'd never been so turned on in all her life.

"I mean I can feel that you have Chakra and I found the first seven of your Gates. But not only could I not get to your eighth gate, at heart, I felt obstructions along your chakra network. Particularly in your arms and legs."

Looking worried - both about what he was saying and about the kind of look Azula was giving Naruto - Ty Lee asked, "What does that mean?"

"Not sure, but I'm going to remove them. Just, um, don't kill me for this," Naruto said. Before Azula could understand what he meant Naruto palmed above her heart, touching her left breast. Before she could clock him, she felt his energy enter her again, only this time it felt as if a dam had burst. She felt her Chi begin to flow at an incredible rate, power she'd never experienced before today coursing through her veins. More than that, a yellow aura projected from her body.

"What… is this?" Azula asked in wonder, eyeing the power she had.

"It's the chakra you've had all along, I let you reach it. For some reason - and I'm guessing this is true for everyone - there was something preventing any chakra in your heart from reaching the rest of your body," he explained. "The heart is the main chakra producing organ, that's why the Gate of Death is there to regulate its flow. If you were to break open that Gate completely after the other seven, you'd have incredible, unstoppable power, but you'd die after using it. Besides, your chakra is already plenty powerful, normal training would suffice for you."

Azula's aura faded, but she could still feel her new power within her. "Can I perform the skills you displayed before?" she asked eagerly.

Naruto scratched his chin, thinking. "Probably not the technique I used to transport us up here, its difficulty is of the highest degree." Noticing Azula's glare, he amended, "That's not a comment on your talent of course, I just meant you need to build up to something like that. You can already do Fire and Lightning Release, so you've a head start."

"We should start as soon as possible," Azula concluded eagerly. "Will you be able to teach me on a ship at sea?"

Naruto nodded. "As long as it's not small, it'll be a fine. I'm gonna have to wing it a bit at first, this isn't a normal thing you'd see in my time. Anyway," he began, looking at the full moon ascending in the sky, "It's probably any good to save that for the morning, tonight's a good night to call on Tui."

The three Narutos carried the girls on their backs ago they directed them to the nearest port where Azula had arranged for an Imperial-class ship to be docked for her a week previously. Oddly to him, Azula insisted Naruto take residence in an extra bed set up in her quarters. She followed him out to the deck of the ship abs he went to contact Tui.

"It's best not to speak unless spoken to while the spirit is here," he said. "Spirits get really bent outta shape about breaking decorum." Azula at least did not dispute this, settling for a nod.

Naruto sat cross-legged in the bright moonlight as the ship left the port. He felt his sense expand greatly as he drew on nature's energy, balancing with his own internal energies. Now in Sage Mode, Naruto clasped his hands together as if in prayer, concentrating on the moon to communicate his desire to speak with the helpful spirit.

About a minute later, Naruto could feel the familiar spiritual energy of the being approaching him. As the image of the spirit drew closer, Naruto noticed it no longer took on the shape of a white fish, but rather looked like a beautiful maiden with snow white hair, eyeing him curiously.

"Is it you who called out for me through Nature?" the spirit asked.

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto asked, "Tui… that is you, right? It's me, Naruto. You know, the Sage?"

The spirit concentrated for a moment before a look of shock appeared. "N-Naruto?!" she exclaimed. "Yes it's me, but… you're out!"

"Well… duh. Why do you look so," he tried to think of acceptable synonyms for bangable before settling on, "Youthful? Tired of the whole fish thing?"

"No, I… kinda died," she started, before quickly explaining the whole sequence of events of her reincarnation from the Water Tribe princess, Yue.

Naruto whistled appreciatively. "Yeah, I kinda died once too. We should start a club or something." Yue or Tui or whoever did giggle a bit. "But seriously though, what's the world like now? How long have I been out?"

The questioned sobered her. Looking at him seriously after casting a brief glance at Azula off to the side, she said, "The world has been more than a little rocky. In the middle of a century-long war right now, actually." Nodding in Azula's direction, she said, "Ask your Spark over there, she's rather familiar with that. As for how long you've been out… a long time, even longer than the millennia I was in the Moon."

"...How long, Tui?" he asked nervously.

"It's been nearly two thousand years, Naruto."

* * *

Far, far away, a young boy with a body-length tattoo of an arrow awoke with a start. A nightmare featuring a massive, monstrous fox spirit had suddenly sprung into his dream, seeking nothing but to devour him for his failure to do his duties as the Avatar.

Bending a bit of cold water from a stream to him, he cleaned off his sweating face as he calmed himself. He couldn't stop thinking of his dream-turned-nightmare.

"I can't shake this feeling," Aang said quietly. "Something's changed, but what?"

* * *

 **(A/N):** Wow, chapter 1 had great stats. Over 100 follows, 70 favorites, a dozen or so reviews, and about 1100 views in 2-3 days. Much appreciated! Please keep those **Favorites** and **Reviews** coming! They keep me motivated.

Whew, that chapter was a bit angsty, a bit too much exposition and such, but I kinda needed to do this so I could focus more on plot abandoned character interactions going forward. Little need to explain more about Chi and chakra and such now, nor about how Naruto ended up in this world (it's his world, post ridiculous world war and a couple of millennia). Hopefully you guys didn't get too turned off by that; thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3: Titillation Denied

"It's been nearly two thousand years, Naruto," Tui said.

* * *

Naruto was leaning out the porthole Azula's window, staring into the dark of the night.

"Two thousand years…," he muttered, trying to take it all in. He'd expected a long time, maybe a couple of centuries. But he'd seen with his own eyes that the world he knew wasn't even a distant memory by this time.

He looked around Azula's room and found some comfort when he saw the insignia of the Land of Fire adorning its walls. At least something of his home survived.

As Azula wasn't back yet, Naruto proceeded to lay down about the large bed in the center of the room instead of the small cot that had been lain out for him. He was sure she wouldn't be happy, but he was too out of it to care. For the first time in ages - literally - he fell asleep, undisturbed by dreams.

What felt like moments later, Naruto was prodded awake. He could see the sunshine despite his closed eyes, so he knew it was morning. When his eyes opened, he was unnerved to see an underdressed Azula laying next to him. She was propped up, leaning on her palm, looking at him with a smirk at how close they were in the bed.

She ran a finger down his shirtless chest. "Hm, I don't recall ordering breakfast in bed, but you'll do nicely."

"Bwah!" Naruto said, falling out of the bed and hitting his head on the metal wall. Straightening himself up and wishing he wasn't blushing so strongly, he sputtered, "I didn't- I wasn't-"

Giggling, Azula interrupted, "Calm yourself. I was only having fun at your expense. I went to bed after you, remember?" When he finally accepted her words, she continued, "I would like to begin learning these ancient arts of yours, if that is possible."

"I kinda wanted to eat breakfast first, but sure," he said, sighing a little.

"Breakfast on command is a perk of being a princess." Naruto found himself sharing in her smile.

* * *

Azula lead Naruto to the deck of the large ship. A contingent of her personal guard made to follow them out on deck. "Leave us," she commanded. Though they clearly did not wish to leave her with an unknown figure, especially one who they did not believe was a Firebender, none questioned her order. Good on them, Azula figured swimming in armor was dreadfully difficult.

Azula had nearly given Naruto a spare shirt to wear since he only wore a red cloak of sorts with a fire decoration at the hem. But she rather enjoyed looking at his well toned, firm body. She removed her normal formal overwear, revealing her sports bra and low cut shorts. He managed to control his reaction, but the pink tinge in his cheeks did make her smile.

"What first?" Azula asked, ready to be serious.

The blonde shook his head briefly before scratching his chin in thought. "I guess we'll start the normal route. Given you're already doing nature transformations, it should be a cinch once you've learned to use the chakra properly."

"And how do I accomplish the control of my energy?"

Naruto explained to Azula how one controlled their chakra. Like bending, intention was the case fundamental key. But unlike Bending, where body movements were used, his arts utilized various hand signs to assist in manipulating and altering one's chakra. Physical exercise increased one's physical energy, while meditation, education and experience increased one's spiritual energy. Balancing these energies was the key to molding more chakra and increasing one's amount of it.

Having memorized the various hand positions after Naruto showed them to her, Azula began practicing the basic Transformation Technique.

"Remember," he said. "Visualize the object or person you want to look like. Don't forget the little details, otherwise it will look too simplistic to pass as a good copy. Don't change the nature of the chakra like you're Bending. You want to channel it over your entire body like… like a second skin. Then use the Rat hand sign and you can create flawless look alike."

Azula did as he instructed. As she brought her hands together to form the appropriate hand sign, she took a deep breath and drew out her energy as Naruto instructed. She felt the addition surrounding her body as Naruto had described and willed it to look the way she desired, down to the most minute detail. She looked at her arm, seeing the now brown skin and more lithe torso, clothed in the blue dress of the annoying Waterbender. Overall, the technique felt very much like being draped over by curtains or perhaps a bedsheet.

She looked at Naruto's pursed lips and smiled a bit, assured she had succeeded against his expectations.

"Figures you'd get it on the first try," he mumbled, though she heard him. "You're one of those 'I'm good at everything' types, aren't you?"

"And if I am?"

"Then this is going to be a lot less funny than I wanted," he admitted. "I sucked at that jutsu as a kid. Anyway, keep working on holding the transformation for longer periods. It's harder for longer durations and if you get hit too hard it will be dispelled, so be careful."

He made as if to walk away, so Azula laid her hand on his shoulder and leaned against his back. "Where do you think you're going, mister?" she whispered into his ear. "I'm not satisfied you've given me everything you've got yet."

He jumped away from her, clearly nervous at her provocative innuendo. She had to blink in surprise, however, when he landed on a wall of the ship and was standing perpendicular to the ground in defiance of gravity. "W-what do you want to know?" he asked, wiping the sweat from his brow.

She pointed at him and said, "I want to learn that."

"Wall walking? Well, I guess. It might be better to get some of the standard ninja fundamentals first to build up our chakra control."

"Be careful Naruto. After all, your predecessor ruined his own dream by handing out power willy nilly," a new voice said.

Azula smiled as she watched Naruto look near the stern of the ship and do a double-take when he saw who was there. It was Yue, the Moon Spirit, clothed in a light blue bikini, laying upon a reclined chair as if tanning in the daylight. If a spirit body could tan, that is. Azula had to admit, the mortal incorporated into the spirit was quite good looking all around. Her unblemished white hair was striking and hard to look away from.

"Tui, what are you still doing here?" he asked. "Don't you live in the Moon or something?"

"I told you to call me Yue now," she said testily. "Anyway, I decided I wanted to keep an eye on you. And with the things you're going to see, a less… biased set of eyes would prove useful to you.

Not letting Naruto respond, Azula replied, "As I told you last night, it's mistaken to think I'm some sycophant of my father, Spirit."

"Then I suppose I was imagining you attempting to catch the Avatar on his order a mere few weeks ago? Or perhaps you are secretly working for good yet it's invisible to everyone else?" The sarcasm in her voice was evident.

"He is a threat to my plans as well," Azula replied. "The Avatar and my father will be out of play eventually, that I promise you. I'm not blind to what I've seen in the Earth Kingdom"

"Am I the gonna be left in the dark here?" Naruto asked.

It took some time for Azula to smooth things over. The damned Moon Spirit was intent on shining her and her country in the worst possible light. As if not one member of the Fire Nation was anything more than an arrogant, murderous thug! Though the supposed god seemed angered by it, Azula's oath the dethrone her father and right the wrongs of her people won Naruto over in the end.

"I need to establish a power base first," Azula continued to explain. "Royalty or not, simply usurping my father will change little if his administration and the people still support the current war policy. But if the other side can also be made to be amenable to a peace treaty, we might have a shot."

Naruto looked to be giving her plans serious consideration. He said, "We keep the killing to a minimum if you want my help. We keep the main game plan in the shadows."

Azula nodded eagerly at his conditions, they were easily met. "You act as if I'm a brute who doesn't understand the need for subtlety," she scoffed.

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, I'm really just telling you telling you to keep an eye on me."

"Why?"

"Because long term planning isn't a skill I have."

"Tch! You're lucky you're his Spark, princess," Yue said, glaring at the firebender with eyes alight with the power of a spirit. "If you betray him or your word, I won't hesitate to break you on the spot. He's had enough of that in his life."

Azula didn't scare easily, but one didn't cross a spirit and expect a long life. To emphasize the point, the boat was suddenly rocked by an unnaturally large wave.

Naruto separated the two and said, "Okay, let's cool it. Not that I have a problem with being fought over, but let's try to-" he began before he stumbled. Azula was confused what happened initially until she took a closer look at the Moon Spirit. She had started to fade, causing Naruto to slip through her now insubstantial form.

"Yue, what's happening," he asked concernedly.

Sighing, the white-haired spirit said, "This form is fading. I can't maintain it here any longer."

"But you didn't have a problem when we traveled together. It was weeks and you never did this," he pointed out.

"You don't understand. Soon after you left, the Spirit World attempted to take this physical plane with its power base destroyed," she began. Her eyes were cast downward, as she continued, "Those of us who saw reason banded together with the Lion Turtles to fight them back. Those Ancient Ones granted the virtuous among the humans with the knowledge of Bending, but not the truth of Chakra."

"They thought the Sage was wrong to give humans chakra," Naruto guessed.

Yue nodded. "They thought a small amount of power would keep things from spiralling out of control again without leaving the humans helpless. That's when it was decided to use a number of spirits would be used to keep the Spirit World from interacting too much with the physical one. But for we who were chosen we had to give up our immortality to remain in this plane. I cannot stay so long from my material body."

"That chaotic time you mentioned... that's when the Avatar came to be, isn't it?" Azula asked, to which Yue nodded.

"I still don't know what that is," Naruto interjected.

"The Avatar was a spirit chosen to merge with a human. They reincarnate into a new human after each lifetime, keeping the balance in the human world, mastering the Bending arts and handling problems that managed to slip into this world from the Spirits." Yue paused for a moment before remarking, "The Avatar was to be a replacement for you, in a sense."

"...Gee, thanks. I feel loved," Naruto deadpanned. "So why don't we just bring your body here?"

The translucent Yue seemed to blush a little, though it was difficult to tell due to her faded appearance.

"...Please tell me it's not a fish or something," Naruto said. The spirit's lack of a response led to him saying, "Of course. Look, just bring me to your body and I can fix this."

Yue looked at curiously before placing a hand on his shoulder. Before they left, Naruto looked at Azula and said, "Be back soon, keep practicing," and they vanished from sight.

Azula had barely started doing that when she heard their voices again just ten minutes later. She turned and saw Naruto holding a flailing white fish in his hands.

Yue looked distraught and shouted, "Hurry up and do something before you kill me you idiot!"

Naruto seemed to ignore her, suspending the fish between his hand by some unknown means. Then, two flames of unusual colors appeared in his hands. One was composed of black flames which swayed slowly and ethereally like a curtain in the wind, while the other was a bright white fire that flickered erratically as if it were alive. Azula thought he was going to pull a Zhao on her when she saw him engulf the spiritual medium - the white fish - in the otherworldly flames. But once he had, the fish began to glow and became consumed within an orb of some sort, half white and half black in color.

"Merge with this, Yue," Naruto said. Whatever he was doing was straining, as he was sweating profusely. The Moon spirit quickly complied and faded into the strange construct Naruto had made. A blinding flash of light caused Azula to look away momentarily, though the sound of a body hitting the deck was unmistakable.

"Naruto… you really are his successor," she heard Yue say in awe. Azula opened her eyes and saw Yue was back. Only she looked… denser, like a real person. Where before she did not even breathe, Azula could see her chest moving in and out.

Not daring to guess what happened, Azula asked, "What did you do?"

Through his gasps, Naruto said, "I… altered her medium… She has a human body again… Damn, that took up a ton of chakra. No wonder Hagoromo died from it."

"Creation of All Things… that's how you did this," Yue said.

"Yeah, once He gave me Six Paths Sage Mode, I could understand everything about chakr-mmf!"

Azula was scandalized as Yue kissed Naruto full on the lips, interrupting his explanation. To his credit, the young man quickly moved Yue off of him though she couldn't completely suppress the jealousy that flared at the sight of how affected he was at the kiss.

"No need for that," Naruto said nervously, not looking directly at Yue. "Just returning the favor."

Yue laid her hands on Naruto's chest and said, "I'll stay my hands for now. I just never thought I'd have to chance to be human again, much less without messing up some spiritual business. But it seems you've worked a miracle. Truly, thank you."

Having seen enough, Azula walked up and pulled Naruto to her and glared at spirit-human hybrid. "I require your attention, Naruto." Azula was glad to see that Naruto looked relieved that she had done so. She quickly quashed that feeling though. He may be good looking, but she had to focus on her mission in the Earth Kingdom… for now. She could do it. Definitely.

As Azula walked Naruto back inside the ship, she heard Yue call out, "Don't be so possessive, Princess. A god is a bit too much for even me to handle alone, I don't mind sharing with you~"

That horny bitch. "I'll show her possessive," she thought as she pulled Naruto into her quarters.

"Hey, what did you need me fo-" he started before Azula planted a kiss of her own.

Knowing he'd remove her for some reason or other, she pulled back and said, "I wish to court you now. No wench, spirit or otherwise, is to touch you without my say so."

Looking like he didn't understand a thing in the world, the blonde responded, "And I thought Sasuke had some aggressive women after him..."

* * *

Aang had obviously been feeling irritable all day, no matter how much he tried to hide it from Katara. The others hadn't been as fortunate; he'd been a little short with Sokka but had snapped at Toph twice already during their Earthbending training. The dark circles beneath his eyes made it clear he hadn't slept well.

"Aang, please just let us know what's wrong," Katara pleaded. "We're your friends, we're worried about you."

The bald airbender seemed conflicted. "I can't explain it, but I feel like something really bad is happening. I had… well, I thought it was a dream but I'm scared it was a vision of sorts."

Concerned, she asked, "What did you see? Was it the Fire Lord?"

"That's just it, I don't know what it was. It was like, a demonic spirit was angry with me. It was like a giant dog or fox. It's freaking me out a little, they've never immediately directed their anger at me, especially not in dreams."

"An angry spirit… Don't know, maybe Roku would know what to do?" Katara suggested.

"Good point. I'll try to contact him but who knows if it'll work," he said. "My past lives seem to show up randomly instead of when I want. Note to spiritual self, be more helpful with the next Avatar."

Katara laughed a bit and was glad to see Aang join in, seeming a little less stressed. She and Aang could hear Sokka returning to their camp from the nearby village with food. He had a habit of whistling on his way back.

"I-I need to apologize to the others," Aang said with regret lacing his tone. "If you see Toph, could you let her know I want to say sorry?"

"Of course."

After Aang ran to get to Sokka, Katara felt the earth beside her shift to form a circle, from which Toph jumped out. That was weird, even for Toph.

"There you are, Aang wanted to-"

"I heard the spiel," Toph said. "I ain't easily offended Katara, especially not from a softie like Twinkle Toes."

Mollified, Katara asked, "What d'you think?"

"Oh it's definitely some spirit mumbo-jumbo. I'm beginning to think Sokka was right."

"About what?"

"Something always happens with you guys. Best to assume the worst and weirdest," she stated firmly.

Katara could not deny that, and it worried her.

* * *

"Look, I didn't say no," Naruto said annoyedly.

Not meeting his eyes, Azula said, "Sure felt like it." She wasn't used to to being denied in anything else. She certainly never expected someone she felt legitimately attracted to being the first to do so.

Naruto sighed deeply and was lost in thought briefly. "Azula, I may have been in hibernation for a couple of millennia, but from my perspective it's barely been a day since everything I lov-cared about died in front of me."

Azula wanted to lash out, but for him she could avoid being so heartless. "I'm not used to being denied, I'll have you know," she grumbled.

"Ah, the privileges of royalty," Naruto quipped. "I just need to sort some things out. Just give me some time, okay?"

"Fine. But that spirit bitch better keep her mits off you. I'm only putting up with her scandalous behavior because you like her for whatever reason."

"She's a pretty good listener," Naruto admitted. "Give her a chance. Old people are annoying but they have good insight sometimes."

"Enough chit chat, aren't you supposed to be teaching me?" Azula asked suspiciously.

Laughing nervously, Naruto said, "I was hoping you forgot about that for today. Why don't we just focus on sparring for a bit to build up your physical energy?"

Azula immediately began fighting him fiercely, hoping to get back at him a little. She was annoyed at how easily he was handling her, unnaturally fast and strong as he was.

* * *

Little did the two occupants of Azula's room realize that there was a pair of girls snooping on them from outside her door, though the conversation was partly muffled by the metal separating them. But the pounding sound was pretty clear.

"Oh. My. God." Ty Lee said. "I told you Mai. I. Told. You."

Mai looked skeptical at Ty Lee's words. "I think you're jumping the gun a bit."

"Girl, she's staking her claim so that spirit lady backs off. You saw how she's been looking at him." The pounding sound resumed with added grunts from what sounded like Azula, so she continued, "She and Naruto are going at it hard in there. Our little tyrant is growing up."

"And that's my cue to leave," Mai said. "I thought it was bad enough with my parents."

* * *

(A/N): Another chapter, yay. To that guest reviewer, no Naruto is not going to be Azula's pet. But he's not exactly a stranger to dealing with aggressive women so I figure he tries to take the path of least resistance when it makes sense, haha. Things will start picking up next chapter, I'm sure many have felt this has been a little slow. Thanks for your patience!

Review and Favorite please!


	4. Chapter 4: Breaching the Barrier

**(A/N):** Just a note for those who may have missed it. The ages of the characters are not always the same as they were in canon. In prior chapters, I mentioned Azula is seventeen in this story, like Naruto. So other characters might have different ages mentioned. Just a heads-up to ward off reviews "correcting" me. :-P

* * *

As the weeks went by, Naruto was becoming accustomed to his strange new life in the world he awoke to. Azula preferred to start her days training and end them on on a high note by gleefully plotting the defeat of her foes. Through the clever use of power, and a healthy dose of subterfuge, she could foresee the end of her obstacles.

Yue was rather the opposite. She enjoyed the quiet moments, the rhythm of the waves of the sea, talk of broader ideas she thought about and places she'd always wanted to visit in her previous human incarnation. She wasn't opposed to a concerted effort towards peace, but saw working within the margins of the current governments as preferable to Azula's strategy of cutting the heads off the biggest opposing snakes.

Enjoying a rare moment alone, Naruto muttered, "Two girls, twice the trouble." If he was lucky they'd get into another Water vs Fire spat resulting in the both of them being drenched in steam and having to be broken up. Currently, they were just training on the deck of Azula's massive warship as they neared their destination on the eastern coast of the Earth Kingdom, having gone West to circle the globe to reach it more quickly.

He watched Azula practicing her taijutsu on the deck, mixing in her Bending as was her preference. She weaved through several hand strikes and kicks, causing blasts of fire and arcs of flame to project from her extended limbs at various intervals. Despite its limitations, Naruto found these current arts impressive as a combination. In his time, he knew of no one besides Gaara and the Raikage who so seamlessly worked an element into their hand-to-hand combat.

These Benders thought themselves limited to one element, when in reality they merely found themselves using the element they had an affinity for. Once the obstructions in their chakra networks were removed, they had the potential to learn elements outside the one they had a natural disposition for. Some like Azula could were so skilled they already managed to move beyond their elemental affinity despite the interference. He still found it odd that she produced blue flames. When he asked, Azula said she didn't understand it herself, but it gave her a more powerful flame than other firebenders. Naruto suspected some kind of Kekkei Genkai was at play.

As Azula proceeded to swap to Lightning Release (Naruto offered her some insight into other possible uses of Lightning), he saw Yue doing her thing in a rather fitting blue bikini Ty Lee had insisted she wear. She was doing a small windmill motion with her arms, slowly spinning one and then the other, controlling the water around the ship to speed them to their destination even faster. She'd been focused lately, saying she'd been all but useless before she and Tui had merged. He understood her desire not to feel useless, it reminded him of Sakura a little. Of course, weird spirit magic helped.

Naruto knew he'd been staring too long when Yue turned and winked at him. He turned back to Azula, who was now practicing Wind Release, though hampered by the lack of a waterfall to practice it with. She could make a decent blast of wind, but she hadn't quite gotten down Wind chakra's ability to cut or tear things with ease.

"What is it about her that interests you, Naruto?" Yue asked. She seemed pleased at thinking she'd snuck up on him - she didn't, spirit or not she was no shinobi. "Despite what I told you when you slept in the box, you of all people wouldn't accept something or someone as unavoidable just because it was Foretold."

Naruto wasn't sure how to answer, nor what the answer was, so he remained silent to collect his thoughts.

"Is guess she reminds me of… well, of Sasuke," he concluded. From the incredulous look on Yue's face he knew he had to continue, saying, "Ok, I mean she's so driven, so confident, the best at what she does. She knows what she wants to do and has every advantage to help her get it."

"And?" Yue said, seeming to find his response funny.

"And, I dunno, I don't want to watch someone like that go down a path of no return to reach her goals," he said. "There's a fear in her eyes sometimes… someone in her life that could inspire her to do awful things by polluting that fire she's got inside so she doesn't disappoint them. Ozai I'm assuming. I can keep her on the right path."

Laughing softly, Yue asked, "And getting to look at that hot, fit body of hers is just the bonus, am I right?"

Naruto nearly fell over at this, complaining "Why do you do this to me? Why does a spirit even think like that?"

"You told me what your old teachers were like, don't pretend to be innocent of impure thoughts," she said, elbowing him lightly. "Besides, as a spirit I had no real gender or sexuality. Is anyone really going to complain that I can also fully appreciate how delectable my fellow women are?"

Naruto suddenly imagined Yue referring to herself as a 'Super Pervert' like his late master.

" _You would have fantasies like that_ ," Kurama spoke into his mind.

Entering his mindscape, Naruto saw that all nine Tailed Beasts were completely awake now. It was strange to see the design of his seal so different than before. Gone were sewers and even the empty space it later became. Now it was a vibrant meadow filled with tall grass and an assortment of flowers. The mountainous demons were arranged around the white circle on an empty part of the meadow that matched the white Yang mark on Naruto's palm outside his mind.

"Since Kurama finally contacted me I'm assuming all of you understand what's going on?" Naruto asked.

Despite their hatred for humans, Naruto could see the displeased looks on their faces at knowing how many people had died due to Madara.

"Naruto," Matatabi spoke. Naruto looked to the Two-Tailed Cat, her fur now a slowly flickering blue flame, who continued, "That girl you saw, the one using blue Fire Release…"

"Azula? What about her?"

"It took me a little while to be sure, but I'm positive she's descended from Yugito. A fragment of my power exists in her."

Naruto stumbled a little at that. "Woah, your last host had a kid?!"

Matatabi laughed and wistfully said, "Oh yes, the Raikage was incredibly angry when he found out. Boy did she get annoying though, bitched about something all the time before she gave birth."

"And here I was thinking it was a Kekkei Genkai. Man this is weird," Naruto said. "Do you want to meet her or something?"

The Two-Tails shook her head. "That might be too soon. But keep it in mind for the future."

"Speaking of which, she's talking to you," Kurama said. "Don't be having kids of your own too soon. I've already had hosts doing that shit twice before, I need to prepare myself mentally before I'm ready again…"

"The helmsman announced we are thirty minutes from our destination," Azula said, bringing Naruto back to reality. Sweaty and slightly out of breath as she was in her slim workout attire, Naruto found her state to be evoking much less innocent thoughts in his mind, so he tried to steer his train of thought away.

"So what's the plan for when we get there again?" he asked, having genuinely forgotten what they were doing.

"One of our Earth Kingdom spies reported seeing the sky bison owned by the Avatar here. All by its lonesome, in fact."

Squinting at her suspiciously, Naruto asked, "Are we holding some poor animal hostage to force this kid to come to us?"

"If only such a simple plan were useful at this point," Azula said smugly, reminding him of Sasuke even more. "No, the bison's use is in keeping the Avatar's attention from straying. He seeks the Earth King's assistance in the war, meaning he will be in the city of Ba Sing Se for the time being."

Understanding her, Naruto said, "So we capture the city and the biggest threat all in one go."

Nodding and displaying great confidence, Azula said, "And knowing my brother and his obsession with the Avatar, he won't be far behind. Whether he joins us or not matters little, but my Uncle Iroh must be captured."

"I suppose the matter of staging a coup of the Earth King and besting his forces is the easy part?" Yue said sarcastically. "Naruto would manage it easy enough but you seem reluctant to make use of him as heavily as you could."

"Indeed, it's almost as if I have formal training in military tactics and espionage, and have considered these plans for a few years," Azula said with equal sarcasm, receiving a glare for her efforts. "The key to this is taking control of Ba Sing Se's secret police force, the Dai Li. They have unrestrained access to the city, can act with near impunity and are rumored to be merciless and defer to those with power. Take them out of enemy hands and the city is all but in our own.

"This plan sucks," Naruto said glumly.

Quizzically, Azula asked, "How so? It's all mapped out and I've several contingencies if some part doesn't pan out."

"Exactly, there's too much stuff to remember."

"What would you have us do?"

"...Bust through the walls and challenge everyone to a fight. I would win and look extremely cool doing it," Naruto said seriously.

Turning back to Yue, Azula said, "That's partly why I'm keeping him back right now. This requires more subtlety than winning a fight if I'm to parlay it into establishing peace."

Yue could not disagree on this point. "Even still, how are we to control these Dai Li? Even with the Transformation Technique we'd be hard pressed to waltz into the city and find everything we need without looking out of place. If they're as skilled and sharp as you say, they'll be on the lookout for spies."

Smiling wickedly, she answered, "Oh that will come courtesy of my father. Let's just say the Earth King's forces will be rather distracted."

* * *

Yue had to hand it to Azula (though she'd never admit it), but as far as distractions went, this was unmatched.

A giant drill was approaching the outermost wall. Giant didn't truly capture it, it was more than a mile in length and stood several dozen meters tall. It was making its way towards the enormously tall outer wall of Ba Sing Se, the drill section of the machine was beginning its startup sequence, its rotation speed picking up.

"Azula", Ty Lee said. "Do we really have to wear these awful green kimonos? They don't show off my nice figure or anything…"

Mai, who was still staring at the getup, added on, "I hate to agree with her, but the longer I have to wear this ancient crap the more likely I am to stab someone."

"Girls, can the bitching before I get royally pissed," Azula said brusquely, not succumbing to her tendency to join her friends in complaining about their upcoming mission. Yue wasn't surprised. The man the Fire Lord had chosen to run the drill operation, War Minister Qin, not only lacked a spine but was overly assured of his competency and intellect, and he made sure everyone knew it.

Azula sat on the ground in a meditative position Naruto had shown her, and Yue could feel her working on improving her spiritual energy as she focused her mind onto whatever she had chosen (or some _one_ , Yue suspected). Yue was distracted when she felt the presence of someone she'd feared running into again. Despite knowing it wouldn't do her any good, she sat beside Azula and pretended to meditate. In reality, she invisibly projected her spirit form out of her new body. She phased through the walls of the drill and made her way into the air, flying in the direction she felt the nostalgic presence.

Atop the seemingly impregnable wall, she spotted him, looking much the same as he had the last time she'd seen him. As she drew closer, she could see the little details she recalled. His traditional Southern Water Tribe hairstyle, his strangely reliable boomerang. Although she'd tuned out what was being said, she was certain he was making one of his silly jokes.

" _Sokka_..." she whispered quietly, instinctively. Not considering who else was in his group, the young fourteen-year old Avatar turned towards her direction, so she quickly panicked and returned to her body in an instant.

"Having fun, Moony?" Azula asked when Yue returned, breathing a little heavier. "Meditation isn't supposed to induce such stress... or dare I say pleasure?"

"Shut… your face," Yue huffed, not desiring to elaborate. She didn't like the slight upturn of Azula's eyebrow.

A burly pair of engineers in masks ran into the control room and frantically informed War Minister Qin that schematics of the drill had been taken and at least one of the braces holding up machine had been cut clean through. Sabotage.

"Princess, I-" QIn began.

"Quiet," Azula commanded, severely glaring. Outwardly relishing the look of fear on the minister's face, she looked at Yue and the two nodded. Yue raised a hand to her head and sent a telepathic message to Naruto.

"Let's go, ladies!" Azula said once Yue finished.

* * *

Aang had been having a strange day. First an enormous drill stops him from proceeding to find Appa in Ba Sing Se. Then he thought he saw Yue's spirit on the outer wall, but it vanished the moment he fully turned around. And finally, after he escaped Azula and her friends again, a tall boy with spiky yellow hair and odd facial markings interrupted his attempt to cut into the metal hull of the drill.

There should be a limit on the Avatar Weirdness Meter™.

"So you're this Avatar guy," the boy said, looking him over briefly. "Azula told me a little about you, but I thought she was pulling my leg about the tattoo. Body length? Man, that's some religious dedication."

Aang entered a standard airbending stance, hands outstretched flatly in the defensive manner favored in airbending.

"Who are you?" Aang demanded. "If Azula thinks sending someone with weird hair will win the day for the Fire Nation, she has another thing coming."

"Threats from an Airbender?" the blonde snorted. "Cute, but don't make threats you can't back up, especially to someone not here to attack you."

"If you work for Azula then you're an enemy to peace and to me," Aang countered. "It's my destiny to defeat the Fire Lord and bring peace to the world. You won't stop me."

"Destiny you say? It's a stupid concept, kid. An idea people make up to make sense of things they don't understand or justify things that want to happen. So they imagine there's a set course of things, ways things _have_ to happen." He stopped to laugh again, before continuing, "Life has a habit of throwing little kinks into the cogs. A little chance into the machine. If only it were as simple as following some preset path or prophecy that was guaranteed. It's lazy, wishful thinking."

"Not here for philosophy," Aang said, completely ignoring the strangers words. He didn't expect the response, however. Faster than he could perceive, the boy was suddenly behind him, standing in between Aang and the outer wall.

"You're making a mistake," he said.

After jumping far away, Aang replied, "The only mistake I made is letting you talk so much!" Aang fired a blast of air at the yellow-haired boy. Rather than move, he allowed himself to be hit. And nothing happened, save for the movement of his clothes and spiky hair.

"Nice breeze, but if you intend to strike your enemy a half-assed attack like that will just embolden them take advantage. If you're gonna fight, fight like you mean it!"

Growing annoyed, Aang drew in a boulder that the earthbenders on top of the wall were throwing down a the drill and redirected it at his foe. Again, the boy did little in response, simply raised his hand and caught it effortlessly, not for a second looking away from Aang.

"You're an Earthbender?!" Aang said in shock. "Why would you work for someone evil like Azula? She's trying to take over your home country right now."

"I was born in the Land of Fire, it's the place I'm loyal to. Azula knows what she's doing, her goal is peace. I'm here to make sure she does it the right way."

Realizing he wouldn't see reason, Aang whipped the small amount of water at the boy, and the two began a dance of the elements. The boy forced them into close range combat, so Aang quickly switched to the evasive style airbending was suited to. He had to make extensive use of manipulating the air currents, as the force behind the punches and kicks aimed at him was unnaturally powerful, requiring precise airbending to diffuse and redirect them.

"Just who is this guy?" Aang thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Katara was bending the waste water from the wall debris, forcing it back into the drill to build up the pressure within so Aang could deliver the final blow.

"Uhg, I'm kinda bored just floating in here ya know," said a girl's voice.

Oh, right. It also had the benefit of keeping that floozy circus weirdo from blocking her Chi again.

"Deal with it. Aang is putting a stop to this ridiculous drill. Azula and the Fire Nation will never take Ba Sing Se," Katara said defiantly.

"Pfft, as if you have any idea what Azula is up to," Ty Lee said, rolling her eyes. "I barely know and I'm her hot best friend."

Sokka, who didn't want to draw attention to himself in this one instance, said, "Giant drill, get to Ba Sing Se, end the war. Her plan is pretty obvious."

"Oooh, the cute ponytail guy. We should hook up sometime," Ty Lee said, leaving Sokka embarrassed. She made a quick kissy face at Sokka. "Trust me, Azula's plan is going to work. She's trying to impress this reeeeally hot guy, so she's working extra hard so they can keep going at it badger-rabbits. She always wins if she really wants it. Hmm… maybe if Naruto and I bump uglies I'll come down all devious and smart too?"

Before anyone else could respond, a flash of light occurred in midair, revealing a floating, robed figure whose face was covered by a dark red cloak. Her gaze seemed to linger in Sokka's direction before turning to Ty Lee.

"Ty Lee, we're done here. It's time to go," the figure said. The feminine voice seemed familiar but distorted in a way that Katara couldn't place it.

The figure raised its hands, one towards Katara and another to Ty Lee. Horrifyingly, Katara could feel her Bending leaving her, the water refusing to obey the direction of her Chi. At the same time, Ty Lee was levitated out of the confines of the sludge she was entrapped in.

"Weeeee!" shouted Ty Lee as she floated in midair. "People call me an airhead and look at me now!"

The two disappeared in another flash of light. Mercifully, Katara felt her Bending return to her. Feeling a second wind coming on, she pushed the water back into the drill forcefully.

"Need a hand there?" Toph, apparently having given up interfering with the drill. As the wastewater had abundant amounts of rock and mud, Toph helped her propel the water even more intensely. The drill was nearly bursting at the seams, or rivets in this case.

"Twinkle Toes needs to get at move on," grunted Toph. "We can't hold this all day."

Despite agreeing, Katara was puzzled by the figure who interrupted her. What was she? How had she blocked her Bending like that? Even Ty Lee had to make physical contact to block her Chi. She seemed to fly even easier than Appa. And disappearing into thin air?

" _It had to be a spirit, but why would a spirit help Azula?_ " she thought anxiously.

* * *

Airbending slices had no visible effect on this guy. Aang managed to blast him back toward the wall at one point, but he somehow just stood on the wall as if gravity was optional to him. He supposed it could be Earthbending but if it was it was a very subtle use.

Normally, Aang would have used the man's own attacks against him but he just wouldn't attack. In a strange turn of events, Aang found himself needing to be the aggressor in the fight. He could feel Katara and Toph's efforts beneath his feet. The drill was ready to blow.

"Do you even have a plan on what you're going to do once you defeat Ozai?" the blonde asked.

"Once I defeat him the world can restore itself to balance. That's my job," Aang said.

"So after a hundred years of bitter war, everyone will make just accept peace? You should know better than that, you've seen how things are."

Angrily, Aang said, "The Fire Nation started this war. It's continuing it, it has to be stopped. Why can't you see that?"

"How many people do you know that hate the Fire Nation? Or hate it's people and firebenders on the spot?" he asked.

Aang didn't know what game he was playing so he simply remained in his stance. In spite of himself, Sokka came to his mind.

"I'll take it you know plenty, then. Assume you ended the war tomorrow. Does this hatred just disappear because the war was declared over? Do you think the war started out of nowhere as well?"

"Are you really trying to justify them?" Aang shouted. "The Fire Nation attacked unprovoked. They're murderers, they killed all my people!"

This reaction garnered a smile from the boy. "That's a more honest reason. See? Even you are tainted by the hatred that would probably end whatever fragile peace defeating Ozai would create. If you can't acknowledge what you feel, you can't fix it. Now think about this: Most everyone else has similar feelings of vengeance and hatred about the Fire Nation, and people of the Fire Nation feel the same about everyone else. Do you truly think Ozai or Sozin are responsible for creating that or was it something they took advantage of?"

Frustrated, Aang said, "Y-you're just distracting me. It'll never work!" He sent a huge whirlwind at the boy who was actually blasted back into the wall by the large gale. While he was distracted, Aang created an airbending ball and quickly ascended up the wall near to the top. Upon reaching the apex of his ascent, he hopped off and ran down at high speed. He jumped off and slammed into the boulder he had placed at his cut point.

The effect was almost immediate. A defeating grinding sound could be heard from within the drill. A squelching sound on followed, as the wall sludge burst out of various gaps along the drill, including the head that had already penetrated the wall.

"This is just too much," Aang heard the boy say. Startled, Aang saw the guy standing beside him completely unharmed and looking at the wall covered in the goop. "I thought maybe it was a coincidence that the drill was so large but come on. Gooping up the walls and breaking in with a gigantic phallic machine? Ozai has either got to have a dirty sense of humor or he's majorly overcompensating."

"Haven't I beat you enough already?" Aang said, hoping to mask how tired he was.

The spiky haired boy laughed. Hard. "You didn't beat me. I wanted to talk to you and see if you were a better avenue than Azula."

Confused, Aang began to ask, "Wha-" before a fist suddenly slammed into his lower chest, putting him on the ground immediately. He'd never been hit so hard in his life. He couldn't think about anything else due to the incredible pain he was in. If any less than four ribs had been broken, he'd consider himself lucky.

"And I learned Azula was right. She told me you were uncompromisingly idealistic, but I had to see for myself," he said. "You're a boy in over his head. You started off removed from the cruel realities of the world and came back to being praised and having expectations of fixing everything thrust upon you because of what you were born as. I can empathize with that second one. But unless you can actually grow and think for yourself, I have to see you as just another obstacle to Azula."

Aang didn't catch everything he said, but he got the gist of it. "You'll… never win."

"We'll see," the boy said unimpressed. "The name's Naruto, by the way. Anyway, today's not your end so consider yourself lucky you're still needed. That time will run out and whether it's me or Azula, we will restrain you when the time comes."

A swirl of leaves suddenly appeared, obscuring Aang's vision. Naruto was gone.

"Seriously, no more weird stuff for at least two days," Aang said in exasperation.

Despite his attempt to play it off, Naruto's words pecked at the corners of his mind.

* * *

Though she knew it to be silly, Azula was pacing the room of their small, temporary dwelling in Ba Sing Se. The forged documents and Azula's application of the Transformation Technique had gotten them into the middle ring of the city while Naruto and Ty Lee had kept the Avatar's group busy. But Naruto still hadn't shown up yet.

"Don't worry Azula. Naruto is fine," Yue said.

A knock on the door interrupted her response, and in walked Naruto. Azula ran up and hugged him, receiving an awkward one-armed back pat in response.

"Told you I'd be fine," Naruto said teasingly.

"What took you so long?" Azula said, trying to sound uncaring despite her initial reaction. Showing the three-pronged kunai, she said, "You said if I kept this you could instantly reappear here after you were done. It's been two hours!" She tried to suppress her annoyance as Yue giggled at her in the background.

Naruto put his hands on her shoulders to still her. "I'm sorry about worrying you, but I think the benefit was worth the wait."

Her interest piqued, Azula asked, "And what would that be?"

"Heh, let's just say in my day I was trained by the best infiltration expert in the world. I secretly entered and scoped out this stupidly large city," he said, gesturing to a scroll he pulled out his pocket. "I found these Dai Li guys, noted some of their hidey-holes and patrol routes, where they meet their leader guy. That sort of thing."

Azula was near to kissing him for setting them up so well. She stayed her lips if only because saving it would make the kiss sweeter. Not that she'd stop at a kiss when the time came…

"Now all we need is to wait for Avatar and Uncle Iroh to reach the city and we can begin preparing our operations," Azula said happily.

Naruto's stomach grumbled loudly, breaking up the excitement. "Can we get some food? All this scheming is taking a toll on my brain."

"That's because you don't use it," Azula said matter-of-factly. "But you're right, it has been a trying day. Consider it a date."

Naruto sputtered a bit when Yue bumped him with her hips, saying, "Make that double."

* * *

 **(A/N):** Ah, another chapter. I've been pleasantly surprised at the reception of this story. The numbers of reviews, favorites and views is rather large for so new and story. Keep it coming people!

So yes, I added Yue to the pairings so you can expect her later as well (hurray for NarutoxYue!), though you can see she's currently conflicted because of Sokka. Several have added me about doing a Harem, and my answer is… MAYBE! :-) If you want a harem, mention it in a review that you make. Just note this. It will not go beyond a few girls: Azula, Yue, Katara, Ty Lee and Toph. And as I said above, characters are older here. So Toph is fifteen, and so is Katara. So you can imagine they look a little older as well.

Thanks for reading! I'll try to make chapters a little longer from time to time as well.


End file.
